• Disclaimer: This Vendor's Forum is a paid-for commercial area. Unlike the rest of diyAudio, the Vendor has complete control of what may or may not be posted in this forum. If you wish to discuss technical matters outside the bounds of what is permitted by the Vendor, please use the non-commercial areas of diyAudio to do so.

Buffalo II

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
if I offended you in any way, I apologise.

Absolutely no offense taken, and no need to apologize for anything.

We make a conscious effort not to comment of the sound of our gear, as such things are really in the ear of the beholder, and TOTALLY subjective. You will never hear me use terms like "veiled", "open", "airy", etc. I prefer to say things like "I think it sounds very good," or "I think it sounds really bad." But really I tend to say, "We like the sound, and the technical performance is there to back it up." :)
 
Last edited:
Would anyone mind commenting on the requirements for a digital coax connector for the SPDIF input? I'm trying to find out if I need a special (75 ohm) rca jack, or if I can use any RCA jack (like the Neutrik NF2D ones I plan to use for the unbalanced output)?

I see the canare RJ-R connectors are 75 ohms... should I plan to use one of these for the digital coax spdif input instead of the regular rca jacks? Also, from the connector to the buffalo board itself, do I need any special or different cable, or can I use the same cable as everything else?

Sorry for such newbie questions :blush:
 
SPDIF cable: From the connector to the Buffalo board, I would use the same cable that you use between the CD-transport and the connector. I use 75 Ohm TV cable, but my connections are quiet short. The best connector would of course be a 75 Ohm BNC, but since you usually have an RCA connector at the transport, you would have the BNC benefit only at one end of the cable, I doubt that this yields a really tangible advantage. I think there are also 75 Ohm RCA connectors and plugs, quiet expensive though.

Kurt
 
SPDIF cable: From the connector to the Buffalo board, I would use the same cable that you use between the CD-transport and the connector. I use 75 Ohm TV cable, but my connections are quiet short. The best connector would of course be a 75 Ohm BNC, but since you usually have an RCA connector at the transport, you would have the BNC benefit only at one end of the cable, I doubt that this yields a really tangible advantage. I think there are also 75 Ohm RCA connectors and plugs, quiet expensive though.

Kurt
The connection from board to connector should be under a foot, probably 6" or so, so I guess I should be ok with 75 ohm coax (TV cable).

My transport (computer sound card in this case) is RCA, so I'm not sure if I would benefit from using a BNC input? If I ever get a BNC transport I could always modify to use a BNC jack.

The 75 ohm canare RJ-R RCA jacks are about the same price as normal (cheap) RCA jacks, give or take, so it sounds like these should work ok. My understanding is that it's not possible for RCA jacks to really be true 75 ohm, but hopefully these canare come close enough to work ok.
 
I have searched the forums but could not find an answer to this:

On the IVY, when used with Buf II, should I use the supplied 2.20K resistors for R32-R35?

I am asking because the manual states "n/a" as the value for R32-R35. From that I got the feeling they could/should be ommited. But from the pictures showing the stacking option, one can see the resistors in place.

Looking forward to listen to it. Great fun to assemble for a novice DIYer.

Cheers from Norway
 
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
SPDIF problem please help

I do it the setup to configure the B II for SPDIF: changed the input selector in the pcb & used GND for ground & SPDIF for signal & the Led to indicate locked don't lit & the B II don't sound, both Leds on the top of B II are lit, until today the unit was going on very well with setup I2S but now I need to change the setup to SPDIF to connect the hiFace M2Tech 24/192, please help?
 
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
I have searched the forums but could not find an answer to this:

On the IVY, when used with Buf II, should I use the supplied 2.20K resistors for R32-R35?

I am asking because the manual states "n/a" as the value for R32-R35. From that I got the feeling they could/should be ommited. But from the pictures showing the stacking option, one can see the resistors in place.

Looking forward to listen to it. Great fun to assemble for a novice DIYer.

Cheers from Norway

Mine is both resistors soldereds R32-R35 & is going on perfectly in balanced mode.

Cheers from Spain.
 
I have searched the forums but could not find an answer to this:

On the IVY, when used with Buf II, should I use the supplied 2.20K resistors for R32-R35?

I am asking because the manual states "n/a" as the value for R32-R35. From that I got the feeling they could/should be ommited. But from the pictures showing the stacking option, one can see the resistors in place.

Looking forward to listen to it. Great fun to assemble for a novice DIYer.

Cheers from Norway

No You don't need them unless you are using the IVY III with the Opus or similar voltage output DAC. but they won't cause any harm either.
 
I do it the setup to configure the B II for SPDIF: changed the input selector in the pcb & used GND for ground & SPDIF for signal & the Led to indicate locked don't lit & the B II don't sound, both Leds on the top of B II are lit, until today the unit was going on very well with setup I2S but now I need to change the setup to SPDIF to connect the hiFace M2Tech 24/192, please help?

Try another source to be sure that is not the problem.

And please post this sort of thing on the support forum. Not here.
 
FWIW I did try some low value impedances, (10, 21, 100, 221R). THD was significantly impacted even with 10 ohms.

This is very interesting, but something needs to be clear to me, when you say 10 Ohm, can this be connected straight to ground or to 1.65V? If there is an offset voltage of 1.65V and connect 195R + 10R to 0V (ground potential), then there will be 8mA going through that 10R (and of course 80mV across the 10R), would the DAC work OK under those circuimstances.

I seem to have seen elsewhere on one of the other forums, somebody using a transformer where the primary centre tap is grounded. It did not show the DC resistances of the transformer's two primaries, but I assume not that high. It was said to work. So the DAC works OK with virtually a real short rather than into a virtual earth floating at 1.65V as suggested by ESS using opamps?

My reason from inquiring is that I would use a differential Low Z I/V into a non-opamp diff amp and not having to float I would make a direct-coupled circuit to bring up to 2VRMS and no coupling cap needed to isolate 1.65V - it would add great simplicity using an existing circuit we have developed, very low noise and its gain can be set to 2VRMS. Indeed 1R+1R I/V Z is workable.

Appreciate your comments.

Cheers, Joe
 
when you say 10 Ohm, can this be connected straight to ground or to 1.65V? If there is an offset voltage of 1.65V and connect 195R + 10R to 0V (ground potential), then there will be 8mA going through that 10R (and of course 80mV across the 10R), would the DAC work OK under those circuimstances.

Appreciate your comments.

Cheers, Joe

Hi Joe,

It makes little difference the voltage at the end of the impedance.

The problem is not one of offset but of modulation.

I have a discrete output stage (no GFB) I just built and am testing for Bufffalo II.

It is called Legato. It works wonderfully. It is a common base trans impedance amplifier followed by a CCS feed emitter follower as a buffer. Very much like a D1 but with lower noise.

So far it is sounding wonderful. :) The distortion is quite low. Not quite as low as the IVY-III but, quite low indeed for having no global feedback. :)

Its DC bias at the virtual ground is adjustable. It is easy to get it right at AVCC/2 which is indeed optimal at least when no feedback is employed.

The input impedance is less < .2R (I am not sure exactly yet could be much lower).

Cheers!
Russ
 
Last edited:
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.